Intricacy
by LilShitWayne
Summary: Sequel to All Tied Up /  "I don't regret what I did, Malia, but I do regret helping you." Theo said. She slapped him "The only thing you were ever good at was lying and if our five days proved anything, is that you suck at it too."
1. Chapter 1

**Golden Ticket to Hell**

"Where's Malia?" was the first thing Corey asked, the second Theo walked into the Blink&Clean building.

He had left the McCall's ranch during a thunderstorm and seen Stile's excuse of a jeep disappear in the gray horizon, knowing Malia was with him. The anger of being thrown out hadn't compared to the anger and betrayal he had felt seeing her walk away with Stilinski, of all people _.  
"_She's not coming back _"_ and Theo knew he was right.

Malia could say whatever she wanted about being used by him – and he had, hadn't he? – But in the end she had used him just as much. She had used him to play the dream boyfriend to her family and friends, used him when she pressed a collection of kisses to his face and made his head swim… And now she had gotten everything she wanted. All Malia wanted was to go back and he had known that from the beginning.

The life in Blink&Clean had always been a play for her. It was the reason why she didn't understand him. She didn't understand how was to be an agent and to live for that. Theo would give up his life any day for a mission and Malia would never get it. Assassins don't have the luxury of caring and Malia cared far too much. _He_ cared far too much for her, she had been a weakness from the start and Theo didn't regret overpowering it. He wasn't going to let his feelings for her stop him from finishing the job.

"I'm dropping out" He let the paperwork fall on Desert Wolf's table and she raised her eyes from the laptop screen and tilted an eyebrow.  
"Dropping out?" Lara repeated slowly, opening the file case and browsing through it "You'd be gaining four million dollars with this case and you're dropping out?"

"People have paid me more, for less" Theo crossed his arms over his chest "Malia discovered my part on it, she probably warned the Hales already. The mission was compromised"

"Alright" A deep sigh and she opened a drawer, taking out a digital pen and a tablet "I never thought I'd see you giving up on a case, Agent Raeken"

"Things change" Theo sat down before her and took the pen, signing the contracts dropping out and taking all the responsibility for that.  
"Do you have anyone to suggest taking your place?" her eyes had gone back to the screen and she was typing furiously on the mercury keyboard.

"No"

Going back home, as if he had ever called the safe house Blink&Clean chose for him 'home', was weirder than he had thought. After almost a week sharing the bed, sleeping alone felt cold and empty and Theo found himself training until late night and waking up earlier than normal. The nightmares with her cold glare and _"All the rumors about you were truth"_ didn't help either.

"Liar liar, pants on fire" Corey smiled, walking into the shooting room a week later and poking him on the ribs. Theo missed the bull's-eye and turned annoyed to his younger friend.

"What do you want, Corey?"

"You little liar, you said she wouldn't be back"

The gun kicked in his hand when Theo pressed the trigger, missing the target for incredible three meters.  
Corey tilted his head to see the hole in the wall "Somebody is surprised…"

"Somebody should leave me alone" Theo bit back, putting the gun down and walking to the weapons wall, choosing another one.  
Corey followed him like a puppy "Will I ever know what happened in the week you were away?" his voice was filled with dry humor and Theo turned to him, unlocking the gun.

"You have four seconds to leave before I shoot you in the leg"

"Bullshit" Corey rolled his eyes "Your mood is worse than hers and that's saying something"

"I'm not joking, Corey" Theo shot the floor, near Corey's feet and the young man jumped back and raised his hands.  
"Ok, ok! I'm going!"

The realization that she had came back didn't down on him until later that day, when he passed through the gym and Malia was already training the younger agents with ruthless fury. He made sure to not make eye contact, but her eyes burnt him like she wanted to open holes with only her gaze. Theo figured she really wanted to open some holes on him, except that she would be using bullets if allowed.

He avoided her like the plague, but she didn't do the same. If anything, he saw her more now than before going to Beacon Hills. Malia now went to the medical floor not only when necessary, but simply to observe and talk with Corey. She would stay late training with Hayden and spend her free time locked with Josh on the shooting room.  
Theo would see the bad aimed bullets on her target and imagine if she was picturing his head there. Probably.

"You're much better than this, Theo" Corey sighed, sitting in front of him and stitching the big cut in his ribs, which he had earned during a fight. "I can't believe you let a bodyguard do this. It's an amateur mistake, Raeken"

"I don't need a lecture, mom" Theo snapped back, annoyed he had lost a simple case and in pain, since Corey had denied him a local anesthesia as punishment.

"Corey, any chance you could stitch up, Josh…" Malia entered in the infirmary, only to cringe and stop talking "Never mind, I'll ask Beth"

"Beth is a butcher" gasped Josh, with an arm wrapped around her shoulders "No way I'll let her take this bullet off"

"Just put him on the bed, I'm already finishing Theo" Corey sighed "What happened?"

Theo couldn't take his eyes from her face. She didn't avoid his glare; staring back and throwing him a dirty look that made him wince more than Corey digging on his flesh.  
"I shot him by accident"

"She almost killed me" Josh corrected "this psycho had her gun unlocked and was just resting her finger in the trigger"  
Corey let out a small smile and started to make a knot on the line "Well, at least today I'm only getting easy cases. Newbie mistakes."

Josh closed his eyes, resting against the pillow "What? Raeken is here because of a newbie mistake?" He almost smiled "I don't believe it"

"He let a bodyguard open his ribs with a Swiss knife" Corey finished the stitching and pulled the needle away "You done, Theo. You can go back to being stupid by tomorrow already."

"Do you need me here?" Malia asked, turning to Josh. He shook his head no, wincing with pain "I'll be ok"

"Sorry again for blowing a hole in your leg"

"It's fine. I've had students doing worse."

"Ok, then." She smiled apologetically one last time and left the room.  
Theo felt his heart skip a beat and he hastily tried to stand up, grimacing when it pulled the recent stitches "May I go?"

"Sure" Corey bit down a smile and exchanged an amused glance with Josh, while Raeken struggled to get on his feet and walked out of the room as fast as he could.

"Malia!" He yelled, trying to run toward her. She didn't slow down, but didn't run either, so Theo figured it wasn't an entirely lost cause "Malia, wait!" he grabbed her by the arm "We need to talk"

She turned to look at him and her gaze wasn't deep in ache or anger, just pure annoyance "No, we don't"

"Can you even try to understand me? I'm an agent and you knew that from the beginning!" Theo exclaimed, letting go of her arm "What did you think was going to happen, Malia? Our five lovely days would change me forever? That I'd stop being who I am because…" _because I like you?_ "…Because of a kiss?!"

"Are you done?"

"No!" Theo shook his head. He wasn't sure of what he was trying to achieve. "I can't keep going with this, ok?! I can't keep on avoiding you. I don't regret what I did, Malia, but I do regret helping you."

She slapped him with so much force that Theo tasted blood "The only thing you were ever good at was lying and if our five days proved anything, is that you suck at it too."

He grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her closer with force, boiling anger filling up his mouth "You want to _hit_ me, Malia?" he hissed, squeezing her wrist between his fingers. "Why? Because your heart is _broken_?"

She punched him with her free hand, grabbing him by the shirt and with the shock Theo let go of her. Malia all but threw him against a wall, opening a vicious smile when Theo hissed painfully "I want to hit you because you _deserve_ it. Because you're mean and a traitor" she slapped him again and there would be a mark there. Malia wasn't delicate in her anger, she was violence and broken bones and Theo was slowly loosing hold of whatever she was saying.

Her face was so goddamn close to his, her perfume was driving him crazy. "I'm mean, Malia?" Theo mocked, twisting her arm and exchanging positions. She face palmed the wall, Theo pressed in her back "Wasn't it mean to play with me, uhm?" He whispered in her hair, barely aware of them attracting Corey outside the medic bay, "I warned you I was no good, you trusted me because you wanted to"

"Bullshit" Malia barked back, stepping on his feet and kicking his knee. Theo fell on the ground and she forced her knee on his chest "I trusted you, because you gave me all the reasons too. _You_ played me, Theo. Don't try to push on me, just because you're too pathetic to deal with your own guilt"

"U-hum" a female voice interrupted. Theo froze with a hand going to Malia's tight, ready to throw her underneath him. Malia's fist froze on the air, the aim perfect to fracture his nose. "What is this?" Desert Wolf crossed her arms, the elevator door closing slowly behind her back.

"I can explain" they said in unison. Lara sighed, eyed the ceiling as if she was dealing with children and pressed the elevator button again.

"Get off of the floor"

* * *

"I'd be lying if I said I never saw two employees fighting… It's bound to happen" her voice was calm, almost motherly and Theo knew he was screwed. Desert Wolf was always cold and whenever emotion displayed in her voice, it was a sign she was completely livid.

"Desert Wol-"

"Shut up" She hissed before Malia could interrupt to try and explain herself "As I was saying, some fights are bound to happen when you have so many angry and skilled people in one building. However…" she squeezed her dark eyes, glaring at them "I was not expecting it from my best agent and my daughter"

"He was asking for it!" Malia yelled, interrupting despite the fury in their boss's eyes.

" _Do I look like I care?"_ Lara yelled louder, hitting with a fist in her table and making all the devices shake "I don't care if he shot your father before your eyes, Malia! You two are _my_ employees and I will not admit exhibitions of your lack of professionalism. WHATEVER _SHENANIGANS_ YOU HAVE WITH AGENT RAEKEN, IT WILL STAY AWAY FROM WORK!" she was spitting by the end of the speech "Wait outside Malia"

"No, I'm not a ch-"

" _Wait outside"_ The woman's brown eyes shone with anger and she walked closer, hands shaking. "Wait outside before I kick you out of the job, the house, and expose your entire web of lies to Mr. Tate"

"You wouldn't dare…" Malia growled, being slowly cornered to the door. Desert Wolf opened her silver door and pushed her daughter outside by the arm.

"Try me" Lara hissed, before banging the door closed in Malia's face.

Theo gulped down. He was going to be fired… or neutralized. Of all the girls to mess with, he had to pick his boss' daughter. Desert Wolf was going to kill him.

"Sit down, Agent TR Chimera" Lara pointed the chair and passed a hand over her pants, as if to clean imaginary dirty, to compose herself from the screaming.

"Desert Wolf, we both knew she would play a tantrum"

"Malia is made of anger, I can't say I blame her for trying to kill you" she mumbled darkly "For a daughter I never wanted, she has far too much of my temper"

Theo stayed quiet, absorbing the information handed to him. It could be useful later.

"The spectacle you two played was a vulgar thing. I never expected it from you, Agent Raeken" she sighed "I can't help but wonder… Was the last job too much for you?" her voice was cold and professional, but Theo knew he was being mocked "Did you develop _feelings_ for Malia?"

"Absolutely not" and his heart skipped a beat. He was lying badly and Desert Wolf snorted.

"The best agent of Blink&Clean since me… dropping out of a job because he has a heart." She opened a smile that made Theo want to be sick. His entire reputation, all those years of credit… Thrown away for Malia. "It would be tragic if it wasn't it comic"

"My relationship with Malia doesn't interfere with my job." Theo said, his voice razor sharp.

"Doesn't it?" Lara opened a drawer and pulled a big file, skipping through the pages "Since you dropped the Hale Case, all of your jobs have been poorly executed. Was it any other agent… Agent TR Chimera, you understand that you're not fired by now because of your history with Blink&Clean, right?"

"Yes" his mouth tasted like blood, he felt something bitter on the back of his throat. His pride, his dignity, bile.

"Alright then." She closed the file with a soft thump and sighed "You're banished from taking any jobs on the next two weeks. Banished from the building too."

"Desert Wolf, please…" he would go crazy. Staring at the nude walls of his house, without anything else to do… Theo would go insane.

"I hope it serves you as warning before you go throwing punches inside of your work place." She then squeezed her eyes "And I _hope_ your next job is brilliantly executed, or you'll have some paperwork to do"

And by paperwork she meant the dismissal form.

"Tell Malia to come in. You can go, Agent TR Chimera"

"Thank you, Desert Wolf" and in all honesty, Theo was glad he wasn't fired yet.

* * *

With his ego destroyed, finding a bar and getting drunk seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. Living in Seattle, even if he rarely ever went out in the city, made it perfect to find the grimiest bar on a dirty corner and order a dose.

He was on his fifth cup when a voice said "Please do entertain me with your dramatic story"

Theo turned toward her, downing his liquor. "What?"

"Easy, handsome. It was a joke" she rolled her eyes "But you do look like you could use a friend"

"I don't have friends" Theo tilted an eyebrow, watching as she opened a small, dangerous smile.

She sat by his side, downing her drink and gesturing for the waiter "No friends, uh? Why don't you tell me your story? Entertain me"  
Theo let a lazy smile slip to his lips, his eyes wandering through her white shirt and jeans "Only job problems, nothing much. What about you? How did you end up here?" he signaled the dirty bar that didn't match her appearance, but much definitely matched her personality.

"Life brought me here, but I stayed for the whisky" she raised her glass for the waiter to fill it and Theo saw the sparkling ring on her hand.  
"You are married" He pointed out, raising his own glass. She shrugged. "Does it bother you?"

"Only if it bothers you" Theo smiled when he felt her hand rest in his thigh and squeeze it gently.

"Not at all" She downed her drink "I'm Eva"

Eva didn't have much patience. She knew when to shake her head for his words, when to punctuate with a joke and when to slip closer to him. However, Theo couldn't fight the feeling that she wasn't even hearing him.

He had come to a bar to find the sweet oblivion of alcohol and Eva had come to drink away her marriage problems. She didn't take off her diamond ring for a second, as if the rock was a reminder that she was prohibited and just because of that he should crave her more.

Theo let his gaze drop to her face, with a sexy smile and plump lips and looking _nothing like M_ … Yeah, Eva was a gorgeous woman.

"We're closing" the bartender eyed them with annoyance. The place was empty if not for them and the guy was clearly done with them eye-fucking but not paying the bill.

"Allow me" Theo said, grabbing her bill. Eva raised an unimpressed eyebrow and rolled her eyes.

"Sexist jerk, why am I not surprised" she sighed.

Theo frowned "If you insist on calling courtesy " _sexism_ "…" he shrugged, before drooping the notes with a large tip and handing it to the annoyed man looking at them.

"Oh, it's named _courtesy_." Eva laughed "Paying a married woman's bill is courtesy, in my time it was named something else" she walked to the door and Theo followed her.

It was the middle of the night, a couple of hours before sunrise. He could yell really loud and nobody would call the police, because it was that time of the night when you could be murdered and people would only complain about their interrupted sleep.

"You keep saying you're married, but I don't see you going home"

"I don't want to go home" She sighed, taking off her jacket and throwing it on his face. Theo smiled against the warm leather. "I'm gonna ask to divorce her"

"Of course you will" He joked. Eva kept walking, he kept following.

It wasn't her first time cheating. It wasn't her first time cheating with a person from that grim bar, because otherwise Eva wouldn't know about the hidden motel turning the block. And she wouldn't grab a key as if the room was _hers_ and wouldn't take off her shirt on the empty hallway and throw it on his face.

"How many times?" Theo asked, when Eva opened the door and turned on the lights. She pushed him against a wall, kicked the door closed and opened his jeans with terrible easiness.

"I've lost count" she whispered against his stomach, pulling his jeans down and staring at him in her knees. Theo smiled at her, tangling a hand on her hair and tilting her head back. Eva blinked, dark eyes shining on his and Theo bent down to kiss her.

She intertwined her hands on his hair and then Theo wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling Eva to him and standing up. He pressed her against the opposite motel wall that she had pushed him on.

She smiled under his kiss, letting her hands drop to his shoulders and pulled his shirt off.  
He raised her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her body arching gently when Theo started to kiss her neck.  
Eva smelt like alcohol, bad decisions and grapes and he squeezed his eyes shut and willed the nagging voice in his head to shut up, trying to drown himself on her.

She pulled away from him, biting his shoulder and throwing Theo on the bed. Eva sat on his lap and then smiled, her body warm and light on top of him.

" _All the rumors about you were truth_ " She whispered, before kissing him deeply and forcing him on the pillows. Theo pulled her away with force, his hands on her arms. "What?"

"I said" she frowned, confused "Do you have a condom?"  
"Yes..." Theo blinked, unsure "In my wallet"

She kissed him again, never leaving his lap, while she bent to grab his wallet. " _You betrayed my trust and only used me as a ploy_ " Eva whispered in his ear, opening the small package. Theo pushed her off him hurriedly, standing up.  
"What's wrong with you dude?!" She exclaimed, her arm growing red where his fingers had squeezed her.

"What did you say?!" Theo passed a hand through his face. He was going crazy.

"I asked if you wanted to put it on, or let me"

"I…" his heart was racing and Theo blinked to focus her. How drunk was he? Had she drugged him, yeah, that sounded possible… With his luck "I think I better go now"

Eva frowned and then rolled her eyes "Don't bother with _courtesy_ , this room is already paid" she growled, before throwing his wallet to him and crossing her arms.

* * *

Walking home drunk and almost unemployed, for the first time, would have been humiliation enough, but the fact that he had freaked before fucking a girl made it even worst. Theo could officially say his pride was dead.

He opened the door of his house and stared bored to the place. Hell, he hated it. There was no way he could stay two weeks locked up and not go completely crazy.

Waking up covered in sweat, with his mouth tasting like alcohol and a boner that answered perfectly to the memory of " _I could kiss you… But I won't_ " was so embarrassing that Theo decided to try and drown himself in a cold shower. Forget about her, Raeken, forget about her. She'll destroy the only thing you ever cared about: your career.

He ended up getting into a bar fight later that night, not because he was drunk (in all honesty, Theo was a lightweight and he didn't enjoy feeling out of control), but because the feeling of a nose crushing under his fist was calming.

"C'mon, man!" a guy yelled "Let the security deal with this prick, before you end up in jail!"

Good advice, too bad Theo had a blood thirst that couldn't be sedated and he punched and kicked until a security guard punched _him_ and said "Leave, or I'll call the police"

He ended up training the rest of the night, hitting the punch bag with a vicious anger that any teacher would call "weakness". He was full of weakness now, right? Angry, distracted… with the taste of cheap liquor on his mouth and a name on the back of his head that just wouldn't leave. Theo wished he could punch away the flutters of his heart, the cold sweat of his palms or the constant wet dreams that managed to be _even worse_ than the nightmares.

All he could do was train until he felt sick and pray two weeks passed faster.

"I'm retired if you haven't heard, fucker, so try calling me again in two weeks or at a better fucking hour than five AM" Theo growled in his pillow, his head banging with a hangover that had more to do with the guard's punch than the alcohol. His phone wouldn't stop ringing and he had picked it up out of pure spite.

"Lovely, Agent TR Chimera" Desert Wolf answered and Theo bolted sit, pain forgotten.

"I'm sorry, Desert Wolf" he grumbled, cleaning his throat to keep the sleep away "I didn't see the number"

"That's obvious" there was something close to amusement in her voice "You know I don't pick favorites for jobs, TR Chimera, and _you are_ banished from Blink &Clean…"

He wasn't even annoyed she was reminding him that. There was a 'but' in her voice. "What?"

"I've got a job… a complicated one. And I can't find somebody else to do it, since we both know your reasons for dropping out of case 10.004. Come over before we open today, if you accept it, it's yours"

Theo was buzzing with energy when he entered the building, only two hours later. Even Gaia wasn't sitting on the reception yet and it was a little weird to see the always crowded edifice, so quiet.

Desert Wolf had a coffee mug in her hands and she pointed the file before her when Theo entered her office.

"Why me?" He asked, opening the file.

"It was either you or a group mission. Group missions are expensive" Desert Wolf shrugged and tilted forward to see what he was reading. "Line eight"

Theo jumped for line eight and then opened a huge smile "Kate Argent" he whispered "It's a case against the Argents"

"Yes"

Kate Argent had been the one to pester Desert Wolf to hand her best agent. Kate Argent had been the one paying him to steal the Hales. Kate Argent had been the annoying spoiled lady calling him every five minutes to make sure the job was done and, because of that, ruining his five days with Malia. Oh, it was going to be good.

"I accept it" Theo answered, voice jumping in a teenager-ish way. Lara only rolled her eyes and stared at her computer, typing something and then turning to look at him.

"You know the deal. Get the file, study it. You leave tonight"

" _Thank you_ " Theo opened a smile. She blinked, confused by the sudden warmth in his voice. "Thank you so much"

* * *

"Oh, look who's wasting our oxygen again" Malia mumbled, the second he got in the same elevator as her. She was just leaving, he was entering.

"Last time I checked, you enjoyed to share my oxygen… my saliva too, if I'm not wrong."

Malia turned to face him, Hayden's hand in her arm and an annoyed glare in her eyes. "Really, Theo?" Hayden groaned, but none of them heard her.

"Why don't you curl up somewhere and die, Raeken?" Malia barked, before she was pulled away.

He couldn't let her walk away with the last word, so before the elevator's door closed Theo made sure to yell "Don't worry, Malia, you won't see me around anymore!"

* * *

 **N/A: And first chapter is here! Reminding everyone that this is a sequel to All Tied Up and I recommend reading it first, so you won't get lost. I hope you all enjoyed this start! See you in the comments!**


	2. Chapter 2

**N/A: Sorry for the wait! And one thing, Desert Wolf is named "Karin" from this chapter and on, since we _finally_ got her name on canon. She was previously mentioned as Lara. **

* * *

**About Whisky and Chocolate**

Coming back to Blink&Clean had been the easy part. Falling into a routine of punching and training with Hayden and shooting with Josh had been easy. Listening to Corey ramble while he worked on some poor bastard was easy.

Staring at Theo's face and not clawing it out was hard.

"You came back!" had been the first words yelled by Corey, right after she entered the Blink&Clean building and got her card back. Malia had blinked in astonishment, surprised by his reaction when she had only been away for two weeks.

"Yes, of course I came back"

"Theo said you were staying behind"

Those simple words made her blood burn and she had pushed Corey off of her, fearing for his safety, wishing she could go upstairs and clean the floor with Raeken's face. Instead, Malia offered Corey a bitter smile and went to the gym.

There were no classes right now, so she punched and trained, trying to channel her anger into something productive, but somehow only getting more furious. Raeken's face danced in her mind whenever she closed her eyes, and she pictured him as the punching bag, wanting to shred him into pieces.

"I wouldn't want to be the punching bag" Hayden smiled, leaning against the wall and startling Malia "Corey said you were back and in an awful mood"

"He's not wrong, leave me alone"

"Will we ever know what happened while you were away?"

"He used me for my family money. I was a case for him" Malia answered bluntly. She was sure Theo would grab the first chance he had to twist the truth and make himself a victim.

Hayden raised an eyebrow and sat down on an exercise bike "That's low even for him"

"Tell me about it" Malia kicked the bag and got back in her feet, turning to look at her friend "What do you want, Hayden?"

"It's Corey's birthday next week" she rolled her eyes "He wanted to invite you but was afraid you would bite his head off"

"Invite me to what?"

"Normally we go to a bar and get drunk, maybe dance" Malia could see that Hayden enjoyed nothing of this. She probably just went to make Corey happy.

"Fine" Malia hide a small smile from how surprised Hayden looked "Text me the address, I'll be there"

"Alright…" Hayden took a step back, clearly expecting a negative answer "Are you sure?"

"Yes, now let me practice"

* * *

"Are you sure?" she had been listening that phrase a lot now. Malia glared at Josh and took the gun from his hands, pointing at the target and pressing the trigger. The kick made her almost drop the gun and she let out a grunt.

"Whoa" Josh looked at the bullet holes "You suck at this"

"That's why you need to teach me"

"You teach martial arts, you gonna be fine without a gun" He gently took it from her fingers "Let's not let you near one of those babies ever again"

"Look" Malia took the gun from his hand again and pressed the barrel on his chest. Josh visibly paled. "I didn't come to Blink&Clean to be put in a corner, ok? I want in"

"You want to be an agent?"

"Maybe" She shrugged "I want to be the best, be it an agent or not"

Josh let out deep sigh and pushed the barrel away from his chest "Fine"

"Really?!" She pressed the trigger in her excitement and the man before her fell on pain, yelling blood murder "Oh shit, Josh!"

"First fucking lesson. Never leave your finger on the fucking trigger!" Josh yelled, pain tears on his cheek and his feet covered in blood "Take me to the medical bay"

Of course Josh only wanted to be treated by Corey and _of course_ Theo had to be there. The second her eyes landed on him the old anger rose like flames inside her stomach.

It didn't help when he followed her outside, mocked her with excuses that didn't even _begin_ to cover it and tried to justify himself. Malia wished he would die already, leave her alone. Stop interrupting her thoughts; stop reminding her what a big fool she had been to trust him.

" _I warned you I was no good, you trusted me because you wanted to"_ Malia didn't heard those words, she _felt_ them. Like a sound slap in her face. Peter had been yelling like a lunatic when the money vanished. Malia disliked the guy, knew he was a dangerous sociopath, but she also felt sorry for inflicting such thing on her blood family.

"Bullshit" she punched him and the felling of Theo's face underneath her knuckles was almost as good as his kisses between her legs had been. "I trusted you, because you gave me all the reasons too. _You_ played me, Theo. Don't try to push on me, just because you're too pathetic to deal with your own guilt" Malia planned on breaking his pretty nose. Claw out his face until it stopped showing up in both wet dreams and nightmares.

"Uhum"

Desert Wolf wasn't happy. She grabbed Malia and pushed her outside the office as if the young woman was a little kid.

Malia sat outside and _prayed_ Theo was being fired. She knew he loved his job and it was basically his entire personality. So nothing was fairer than pray for his utter destruction.

Instead, Raeken came out looking relieved and annoyed, mumbling a simple "She's telling you to come in"

Karin opened a dangerous smile when Malia walked in and sat before her.

"Did you fire Theo?"

"It's none of your business, Malia" she grabbed on papers and put them on a drawer "I'd ask for an explanation, but Agent TR Chimera already tired my patience."

"Oh, so you listen to _him_ , but not me. Let's talk about what a bitch y-"

"Stop acting like you're five" Karin glared at her "Your punishment will be filling up papers for the Count&Numbers"

"So I'll fetch papers?"

"Pretty much" Desert Wolf made a gesture for her to leave and Malia was about to stand up, glad there hadn't been worse consequences, when her biologic mother said "Ah, Malia"

"Yes?"

"Are you training to become an agent? I saw that you signed up for medical, computer system and shooting classes"

"I just shot Josh on the leg, I don't think he'll want me as a student anymore" Malia shrugged.

Against her will Karin opened a sly smile "He'll get over it" and then her brows furrowed "So you _are_ training to become a field agent."

"I want to dedicate myself fully to my job. This is not a game for me, despite what people think. This is my life and I've chosen it enough times for people start giving me credit for it"

"And by that you mean…?"

"I came back, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did" there was something sugary in her voice that made Malia flinch. A mockery, like Karin was wondering how much of her decision had been made to prove a point to Theo. Well, fuck Karin. Malia's choice to own her life had nothing to do with Raeken, even if he had been a catalyst of it.

"Malia"

Tate cursed mentally and opened the door, stepping out before turning around and repeating "Yes?"

"If you're ever apt to be a field agent… I'll make sure you are. Blink&Clean could use your fury on field."

* * *

"Hey, loser" Malia hugged Corey, smiling when he kissed her cheek and then eyed her from head to toes.

"You're hot tonight, Malia"

"Happy birthday" she smiled, rolling eyes and going to the bar table her friends were sharing. Josh was there; Hayden too, looking upset but still present. A handsome guy with tired eyes and who Malia was pretty sure she had seen before. Some more people she didn't even bother acknowledging.

Corey did introduce her to them, but she was getting itchy to dance, the music was too loud.

They drank, mocked Corey and someone scavenged a cheesy party hat to put on him. Malia discovered that drunk Corey was absolutely hilarious and that he would dance on top of tables with enough cheering.

"Hey" Hayden, the only one still sober of them, smiled and poked Malia's ribs "Doesn't that guy looks familiar?"

Malia turned around to see the person Hayden was pointing in the crowd and frowned. Stupid Raeken. "What's Theo doing here?"

"It's not him" Hayden squeezed her eyes "The hair is all wrong and I'm sure Raeken would kill himself before going anywhere in a blazer"

"Malia!" Corey squealed, grabbing her arm "Did you see the hot guy making fuck eyes with you across the bar?"

"I'm pretty sure it was with you"

The boy who Malia now knew was named Lucas glared at her and his grip on Corey's belt hook got a little tighter. "I don't think so… my gaydar is pretty sharp and that kid isn't queer, unfortunately"

"Corey, c'mon, you're wasted" Lucas said, his voice strained. Josh stepped on and pulled his friend out of Lucas' claws.

"C'mon, Corey, lets get you a bottle of water" Josh mumbled, throwing a glare to Lucas and walking away.

"What's the issue with these two?" Malia questioned, smiling a little.

"Josh is a little _too_ protective of Corey. Lucas is just a plain ex-boyfriend asshole"

"Corey doesn't seem to know Lucas is an ex"

"Well, we all have our weakness" Hayden shrugged " _Your_ weakness is reallyeye fucking you, by the way"

"Shut up" Malia rolled her eyes, not bothering to look at Theo's clone across the bar."C'mon, let's dance" she grabbed Hayden by the wrist and pulled her friend to the dance floor.

Hayden was a little grumpy for having been dragged to a club, mostly because she had had a nasty experience working in one a long time ago.

"I don't dance" her friend hissed, but Malia smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"You do now"

She closed eyes, letting the beat swallow her and danced away her frustrations. Got down to the ground, rolling hips in a lascivious way, and smiling to no one and everyone.  
 _The muscle pain from shooting classes? Gone.  
_ Hayden tugged her closer, a little shy and very annoyed.  
 _Working with Counts &Numbers?_ _Gone_.  
Malia turned around, feeling Hayden pressed on her back, small hands on her hips and trying to follow her movements.  
 _Theo Raeken? Go_ -

"Hey" a guy put a hand on her shoulder and Malia snapped eyes open, noticing Hayden had left her without much of an explanation and now Theo's look alike was smiling at her.

"Hi..." She opened a breathless smile and he grinned back.

"I'm Mike!" He yelled over the noise and Malia let one of her hands rest on his elbow, pulling him closer so they would be dancing together. "I'm Malia" He was slower than her, a little awkward but definitely not shy. "Do you..." a loud noise and someone pushed past them, pushing Malia in his arms. Whatever he was saying got caught in his throat and Mike opened those dark eyes of his and lowered his head, his mouth suddenly closer to hers and Malia didn't mind it at all.

"Do I what?" it was supposedly a whisper, but the music was too loud and there were people jumping around them, yelling and laughing.

"Are you alone?"

Oh. Malia smiled and turned her head slightly, seeing Hayden near the bar with Corey, eyeing her with disapproval but a little of mischief. They would be fine.

"Yes"

His eyes were so incredibly chocolate. Eating her up the entire time they made out on his car. Asking in a breathless whisper "Maybe you should text your friend my address, otherwise they will get worried"

Malia wasn't planning on knowing anything about him. Only that Mike had chocolate eyes, hands a little too alike to Raeken and he kissed her well enough to make her clit throb.  
However, somehow, when they stumbled to his couch kissing and almost falling over the coffee table, she learned he was awfully sweet.

"You like _that_?" Malia frowned, still on his lap, eyeing his CDs on the shelter behind Mike's couch.

"Like what?" he took off her shirt and his lips met her bra, teasing the black fabric with his teeth.

Malia palmed his chest and pushed him off her, walking to the CDs collection and smiling "This is some dark indie stuff for a guy like you"

"Should I be offended?" he chuckled, taking the CD she had picked and putting it on like it was some precious vinyl. Maybe it would be, given a few more years.

"Not at all" Malia smiled, the bass strings filling up Mike's living room. She undid her jeans and kicked them off, smiling under his hungry gaze.

"Malia?" Mike called, not entirely confused, more amused than anything. She bit her lower lip and turned around, dancing and looking at him over her shoulder, unclipping her bra.

His smile vanished and he licked his suddenly dry lips, leaning against the wall and crossing arms as if to hold himself still. Malia smirked and let her bra fall to the ground, raising arms and swinging by the beat, closing her eyes.

She let her hands fall to thighs, running them inside her legs, rubbing her wet thong with her index before pulling down the fabric, kicking it off. She heard him groan, somehow Mike's voice was closer and Malia hadn't heard him move.

He put a hand on her waist, the other tugged on her neck and he tilted her head back, smiling and kissing her. Malia grinned on his mouth, turning around and wrapping arms around his neck. His hands went to her butt and Mike lifted her, didn't breaking the kiss when she wrapped legs around his hips.

Mike lowered her on the couch, crawling on top of her and kissing her between the breasts.

"No" Malia groaned, tugging on his hair as his kisses went south "I wanna look in those grey eyes of yours"

Mike laughed, frowned and kissed her again "Too bad, because they are brown"

* * *

She woke up hours later, unable to remember going to his bed, but tangled in sheets nonetheless. Mike was facing her, asleep, and with eyes closed he looked way too alike to Raeken. Especially in the grim light.

"People call it creepy when you watch them sleep" he grumbled, smiling and slowly opening eyes, letting out a yawn "Are you hungry?"

"A little" Malia traced her thumb over his brows, watching him carefully "I should go"

"It's not even morning yet, you should stay" He smiled when she traced his mouth, biting on her finger "Stay"

"Is that how it works with your one night stands? You let them stay for breakfast and act all cute?"

"I wouldn't know" Mike sat up on the bed and put on his boxers "You're my first one night stand ever"

He was her first fuck since Stiles, but Malia wasn't about to go around sharing details. She followed him with a greedy gaze and sighed "I think we're already messing it up".

Mike was one hell of a cooker and by that Malia meant that he got two bowls and filled them with cereal and milk. If she somehow ended up cuddling on his couch, stealing the rest of his cereal… well, no one needed to know that.

"Will you call me?" Mike asked, after putting his name on her contacts and calling a cab. He was so absolutely perfect that he even offered to drive her home.

"No" Malia shook her head, pressed one last kiss on his mouth "Your music taste is pretty good, by the way"

"I know" he smirked, leaned against the doorstep and watched her go.

She didn't even bother trying to sleep. Instead, Malia took a shower and went straight to work.

"So? How was it? Not a total psycho, I hope"

"I sent you a safe text"

"Yes, but I was still worried" Hayden rolled eyes and they walked in the Blink&Clean building "Corey is not coming today, he's half dead with hangover"

"Well, I wouldn't expect anything else after last night" Malia smiled, pressing the button of the elevator "Mike was… good"

"Just good?" Hayden sounded disappointed. She pressed their floor's button and let out a sigh "I thought you wouldn't ditch us for just an ordinary guy, I guess I was wrong" she forced a fake offended voice.

Malia laughed and nudged her "Oh stop it. I didn't even ditch you, the party was already ending"

"No it wasn't. You missed the best part, when Josh and Lucas got in a fist fight and Corey threw peanuts on them yelling " _take off your shirts""_

"Really?"

"Yeah, you went home right before the best of the party" Hayden let out a smile "Really, Malia, wasn't it weird? He looked so weirdly like Theo"

"No, he didn't" Malia crossed her arms defensively "And if you really wanna know, my night was amazing"

"Go-" before Hayden was able of finishing her sentence, the elevator's door opened and Theo Raeken was standing before them. Malia let out a groan.

"Oh, look who's wasting our oxygen again" She mumbled, the second he entered the elevator. She hurried to leave, not wanting to share any space with him.

"Last time I checked, you enjoyed to share my oxygen… my saliva too, if I'm not wrong."

Malia turned to face him, Hayden's hand in her arm and an annoyed glare in her eyes. "Really, Theo?" Hayden groaned, but none of them heard her.

"Why don't you curl up somewhere and die, Raeken?" Malia barked, before she was pulled away.  
As she was walking away, good day already ruined, she heard him yell "Don't worry, Malia, you won't see me around anymore!"

"What do you think he meant?" Hayden questioned, walking to the training rooms.

"Hopefully that he'll throw himself in front of a bus"

"You don't really want him dead" Hayden whispered back "I know he was the world biggest jerk, but there is _something_ about your week with Theo that none of you two mention… and it seems to be some weird dark secret"

Malia knew what it was: Her being stupid enough to actually develop feelings for him. "I do, Hayden. I do want him dead"

* * *

"You said you wouldn't call" Mike smirked, opening the door to let her in. Malia offered him a big smile and raised the Chinese food box as an excuse.

"And I didn't"

He grinned and closed the door behind her, grabbing the box "Moo Shu Pork… Alright, I'll forgive that you never called."

"What are you doing?"

"Watching Cupcake War" he shrugged and sat down on the couch. Malia felt bad. She was using him and she knew first-hand how terrible it was to be used.

"I think I should go" all of her confidence vanished. Mike was a nice guy, he didn't deserve to have his feeling toyed and much less be used as a face replacement to her subconscious fantasies.

"Why? You just got here" He frowned "Is it my show? Because I can change channels, my god"

Malia laughed, hating him for a second "Stop being nice. I'm not nice"

"Oh, bad girl complex, uh?" He didn't even move from his spot on the couch "You bought me dinner, there's no way you're going home now"

"Mike…" she let out a sigh "I'm not good with this one night stand thing, but I'm sure it shouldn't be like _this_. I used you last night an-"

"Oh, I know."

"You know?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't have grey eyes and my name doesn't starts with a 'T'" Mike shrugged, a playful smile on his face.

Shit, this was embarrassing.

"But I think…" he carried on "That if you're here, paying me dinner, and not with this guy, it means I've got something he doesn't have. Maybe it's my charming brown eyes, so soulful"

"Oh god, shut up" Malia laughed walking over to the couch and sitting down "So it doesn't bother you?"

"Not now, maybe it will in the future if there's a future. Who knows"

"You're…" _crazy, hopeless "_ a dream, Mike."

* * *

"So, are you still seeing Theo's clone?"

"Who told you about Mike?" Malia growled, pressing the trigger and opening a smile. It wasn't a perfect shot, but it was close. One of her bests so far. It had been almost a month and half since

"Corey, he's an open mouth" Josh inspected her bullet holes and let out a whistle "You're getting really good, Malia"

"Thanks. And to answer your question, no, I'm not"

"Really?"

"He was…" _too nice to fit my jerky type, apparently_ "We decided we would be better as friends"

"That's nice, I guess" he let out a smile.

"And what about your big ass crush on Corey?"

"He's my bestfriend, is not a crush" Josh rolled his eyes "You should have seen Corey when he used to date Lucas"

"Why?"

"He was a mess. I just don't want him to go back being an insecure ball of shyness again"

"Fine" Malia shrugged "What about hi-"

"Malia" a sharp voice made them both jump and, _once again_ , her finger was resting on the trigger. Josh cursed when she missed his leg for just a few inches.

"FUCK, MALIA!"

She shushed him with an impatient gesture and turned to face Desert Wolf. Karin had arms crossed and she was carrying a folder.

"My office. Now"

Malia followed her without asking questions, anxious about missing practice or one class. Whatever was it that Karin needed, she was sure it would something impractical and stupid.

"Sit down, Malia" Desert Wolf took her place in the presidential chair and opened her big folder, a queasy smile dancing in her lips.

"What is it? I have a class to teach, I don't have time for small talk"

"I know. Your progress has been amazing. Off the charts, to be honest" those words were unpleasant for Karin to say and Malia loved the unwilling praise.

"Good" She didn't let it show. Crossed arms and leaned back in her chair, letting Desert Wolf know it wasn't a game for her.

"Have you heard of a team mission, Malia? I bet you did, since you've been studying all of the cases in the Doctor's files"

"Yes" Team missions were always expensive and rare.

"I have a team leaving tomorrow for a job" Malia knew where this was going "The job it's a simple track and recovery, but the contractor wanted more than a single agent, since it showed to be... useless, last time we tried it"

"You want me to be part of the team" It wasn't a question and Desert Wolf frowned slightly, maybe disturbed by the arrogance or startled by Malia's confidence.

"Yes. You're new, but your skills in fighting are pretty brilliant and a team mission would be the perfect environment to learn the tricks. I've got almost the entire team picked out, would you like to join?"

The first thing to cross Malia's mind was "yes", followed by a memory of her first day in Blink&Clean and Theo covered in blood. "I'm not killing people" the words blustered out "I want the job. I _will_ take the job. But only on my terms: I'm not killing innocents"

Now Karin opened a smile "As frail as day one, uh" she mumbled under her breath, before signing something on the file and turning on the silver screen of her computer. Malia saw a collection of names and faces run by, but it was a single one that caught her attention: Raeken. Over it, in big red letters, was written "Neutralized".

"What is-"

"Classified" Desert Wolf cut her off, stopping scrolling when a big picture of Malia showed up. She wrote "Contracted" on it and turned for her daughter, closing the file and pushing it across the table "Good luck"


	3. Chapter 3

**Il Lutto È Per I Deboli**

 **(Mourning is for the weak)**

Malia shrugged off her raincoat, tucking the wet fabric under her arm and frowning slightly, glaring at the seat numbers in search of hers.

"Hey, loser" Corey's head appeared between the crowd trying to place their hand baggage and Malia smiled, walking to him and grinning even more when she recognized the number of the seat was the same of her ticket.

"I'm so glad I know someone on my team" she sat by his side, watching the thunderstorm outside the plane.

"You know everyone" Corey pointed a few seats ahead, where Hayden was sitting with Josh, napping on his shoulder "Those two _and_ …" he turned around with a struggle and pointed the seat behind them. Donovan looked up from his tablet and frowned "What?" he barked, promptly going back to ignoring them; "And that's our instructor" Corey completed.

"Donovan is our instructor?" Malia whispered, annoyed, pulling him sit again.

"Well, he's the only one of us who actually is a field agent. I work at the medical bay, Josh is a shooting instructor and Hayden is the best hacker I've met since Daniel…"

Malia let out a groan. Donovan was impossible, he was literally the worst person to be stuck in a plane with.

She threw her head back, closing eyes. It was a late flight and they were supposed to sleep through it.

"So… How'd you get the job?" Corey whispered, while the plane walls reverberated, taking flight, and a signal turned on for them to keep sat.

"Desert Wolf called me yesterday night… Offered it, no questions asked, no exams… Just handed it on my lap" there was something pungent in her voice, a challenging Corey to comment Karin's biases. Challenging people to think of her work and progress as unworthy.

"Same thing happened to me" Corey mumbled, twisting his fingers "I'm thrilled to be part of a field excursion, but… team missions are expensive… I feel like it's much bigger than we're being told."

"Yeah, maybe…" Malia shrugged away his worries. She was anxious enough without Corey's worries added to it.

They spent the next fifteen minutes in silence, lost in thought and hearing the soft snores of the other passengers arise … Corey was almost dozing off when Malia poked his ribs.

"Corey" the question had been nagging her since the day before and Malia knew there was no way she would be able to rest without knowing it "What does 'neutralized' means?"

Corey's answer was a sharp gasp, while behind them a husky chuckle rose. Malia felt someone moving and then Donovan had shoved himself between their seats.

"Where would you hear that?" Corey asked, color draining from his face in an incredible pace.

Donovan didn't say anything. The cruelty was obvious in his dark glare and he was searching her face for answers.

"I read it on one of Desert's Wolf files"

"You shouldn't snoop in" Donovan interrupted Corey, his voice acidic "You might get yourself tangled in _businesses_ that don't belong to you. And you might get yourself killed"

"Stop scaring her" Corey mumbled, tilting his body so he could look at Malia "Do you know who was neutralized?"

Malia knew. She knew way too much… the _RAEKEN_ surname written in grey on the screen and her heart hammering. She already knew what neutralized meant; it was clear from Corey's face and the apprehension on his shaky fingers.

"What does it mean?" Malia answered, instead of telling the younger man that his friend was…

"It means dead" Corey sighed, passing a hand over his face "It was Theo, right?"

Malia didn't know they were close. She didn't know Donovan and Theo were friends either, but the man cursed loudly and punched Corey's seat. Nevertheless, none of this mattered.

It means dead.

It means dead.

It means dead.

Her mind was running in circles. Theo Raeken couldn't and wouldn't be dead. Her mouth was dry all of sudden and she could smell him. Fell his chin on the crook of her neck, his palms on her thighs, his cocky smile and…

"It doesn't mean dead" Donovan corrected sharply. It wasn't comforting at all, it only made Malia brace herself harder "It means forgotten. It means all of his cases were erased, that he will not be mentioned on Blink&Clean's files… It means he never existed. His name will be erased from everything, Desert Wolf will make an announcement, or we'll receive a memo about it… He's being erased from everything"

"It doesn't make sense" Corey was mumbling feverishly under his breath "He was Desert Wolf's favorite, it doesn't make sense. B&C's best agent, why would they kill him… Donovan?" the last question was a plead, a child begging for any reassurance.

Malia didn't stay to hear Donovan's wounded mockery.

She stumbled to the plane's bathroom and sunk to the floor, locking the door and fighting the will to kick it. To break everything, dug nails in her hands and cry.

" _Why don't you curl up somewhere and die, Raeken?" "Don't worry, Malia, you won't see me around anymore!"_

He knew. He knew, he fucking knew.

Malia hugged her knees, resting her forehead and letting out shallow breath. Theo was dead and he had known he was about to be executed.

" _I do want him dead"_ she had said and now her wish was granted. And it felt like her heart was falling apart.

* * *

The plane landed and it was still night, thanks to the huge time zones they had just undergone. Malia felt like her body had been stepped on, hands still shaking with residual shock.

Hayden's eyes had become teary-eyed when Corey told her and Josh about Theo's death. However, she had swallowed the tears, put on a brave face and shrugged it away.

Malia's stomach churned with the realization that out of her group she was the only one to cry over his death. Was Theo Raeken such an awful person that no one would miss him? Was she stupid and dumb to be this shaken by it? Or, an even worst option, did agents die so much that her friends were used to it?

"Malia" Josh put a hand on her arm and she flinched, the chilling night making her shiver even more. "C'mon" he once again put a hand on her elbow, pulling her along with the rest of the group.

She was squeezed on the backseat of a SUV, noticing that Donovan was pulling a stack of cards, only one black while the other four were silver.

"What is it?"

Donovan seemed almost surprised that someone was talking with him.

"Bank cards" he smiled "No money, no job"

"They'll have to pay us right now?"

"As soon as they check us for trackers and guns, and get us to a safe place"

Malia raised her eyebrows, snatching one of cards. There was no name on it, only a string of numbers. "Which one is mine?"

"Number four" he raised one of the silver cards.

"Who's the black?"

"Mine, of course" He waved the onyx card "I'm in charge of the mission. This card is unlimited and it's entirely paid by Blink&Clean"

They sat in silence for a good forty minutes. Malia leaned on Donovan's personal space, trying to see something beyond the darkness outside the window. Nobody talked. She couldn't help but wonder if their silence was their own way of mourning.

"We're here" Donovan poked her ribs painfully, shoving the door open.

Malia firstly saw a big wall. She would later realize it was the gates of the house. Secondly, she saw a small armed group and then, Josh was pushing her out and someone was shoving her against the SUV.

"Spread legs, open arms, take off coats!" a male voice ordered.

Her forehead was pressed to the car's hood, and behind her she could only see a blinding light. Malia saw Hayden complain, looking offended, and then have her coat pulled down with violence.

Malia shrugged off her jacket, grumbling under her breath. Someone's feet spread her legs and then a gloved hand was palming her. Malia knew they were searching guns and trackers, but it didn't change how uncomfortable it was.

The same rude fingers massaged her tangled hairs, touching her scalp. "Open mouth" this time it was a softer voice, a delicate hands holding her chin while a dentist lantern inspected her mouth.

Malia could hear Donovan talking in the background and then Corey's hand was pulling her from the light.

She was dizzy the entire way, lost between her friends being manhandled and Donovan yelling in Italian. Finally, after anxiety was already in full force in her chest, Malia found herself inside a big living room. It was brightly lit, white lights that made her eyes hurt, and a tall man was arguing with Donati.

Donovan was face to face with him, despite the height difference. The army guy wore a heavy bulletproof vest and his hand seemed to instinctively fall to his gun, that Malia already knew wasn't a Taser one.

After Donovan finished waving angrily, the guy seemed to back down. He took his helmet off and offered his hand. They shook hands, both looking disgusted by it, and the military guy walked toward them.

Malia saw Josh reach to where his gun normally was. He came back empty handed and visibly flinching with the stranger's approach.

"I apologize" she could see him clearly now. He had angelic golden curls, damp and messy around his sculpted face. He would be a Michelangelo's angel, wasn't it for the blue eyes that made her want to run from him "We're on a war field right now, so I apologize for our distrust-"

"And lack of common sense" Donovan bit in bitterly. Malia fought a smile. She knew Donovan was a terrible person, but having his leadership questioned, was making him show concern for them. And she wasn't about to complain. The blond man grimaced, threw Don a dirty glare and then opened a forced smile to her group "I'm Camden"

The lack of military title surprised Malia, she was sure his name should follow a "general" or a "captain".

"Now…" Don's voice was a snarl and Malia smirked, hearing the sickening interest on his voice "The payment"

"50% now…" Camden said, nodding for one of the guards to assist Donovan "50% later"

"Full check now. It's not your first time working with B&C, you know how it goes"

"Blink&Clean's last job was… an atrocity, to say the least. The payment was agreed like this, so keep your complaints to your superior, Agent."

Donovan visibly stifled, his face painted in a choleric red. However, he didn't say anything, keeping the transition going.

Malia had studied the case the night before. Read the files at least four times each. An agent had been contracted to retrieve sensitive information for the Caltagirone family… only for them to be ambushed when he was supposed to hand the pen drive with the data. She had studied the poor videos recorded by street cameras. She had seen the bunch of men falling like bags of corn, spilling blood everywhere.

Donovan walked over, while Camden already unlocked doors and dismissed guards, guiding them inside of a mansion.

"Hayden, we'll install you and Malia on the security room. You'll both see every recorded material. Anything that can lead us, alright? Anything. If a man picked his nose before the attack… I want to know"

"What about us?" Josh whispered back. Corey looking sickly pale behind him.

"You'll study the corpses of the guards. They were sent back to Italy, Angelo did Blink&Clean the favor of keeping them."

"…We don't do favors" Camden snarled from his spot before them, guiding them into a labyrinth of doors "Those guards worked for Angelo. They had families. It's our duty to discover who killed them and why, as much as it's your job to find us the flash drive"

"He's charming, uh…" Hayden mumbled by Malia's side, making her bite down a smile.

Angelo Caltagirone, the one that contracted Blink&Clean, was the head of the Italian Mafia. At least, that was what Malia absorbed by reading his files. He smuggled guns, but Malia knew there was a lot more underneath it. However, it wasn't her job to judge the Caltagirone family. She knew there was no right or wrong, she was working in the grey, where everyone was at fault.

Camden opened a door, opening to a chamber.

It was a big bedroom on it's own, but since it was clearly meant to be shared, it became small and suffocating.

"We're sharing?" Donovan seethed. Malia didn't doubt of Camden's bravery, but some balls were needed to be on the receiving end of that voice.

"As I said, Blink&Clean lost credit with the Caltagirone family" the man opened a lazy smile and Malia saw amusement in his face.

Donovan's lips were thin with anger and he dropped his duffle with a loud 'THUMP'.

"Lahey," he turned for Camden "I'm gonna make your life a living hell."

Malia felt her mouth go dry. Firstly, because she had never heard anything as unprofessional; Secondly because Donovan had just threatened the person responsible for their safety.

She expected Camden to punch him. Or, by how panicked Josh looked, shoot him. Instead, Camden rolled eyes "You're not special, Donati" he sighed, turning his back and walking away, the door closing heavily behind him.  
Not before Malia saw the guards on the corridor.

"What the fuck was that?!" Hayden was the first to react, taking a step forward as if to slap Donovan.

" _That_ was Camden Lahey… _Caltagirone._ "

"Caltagirone?" Malia echoed, shocked and terrified. He had threatened their superior _and_ the son of a mafia' s leader?!

"Yeah, Angelo's adopted pet" Donovan shrugged "Met him in the army, fucking asshole."

"The only asshole I'm seeing it's you" Corey mumbled, putting his duffle on one of the bunker beds.

Josh rolled eyes "You both suck. Why did we have to be treated like cargo?"

"They suffered a few attacks on the last two years" Donovan said, inspecting the bedroom with disgust "They're paranoid here".

"No excuse" Hayden seethed, opening the zipper of her bag with violence.

Malia rolled eyes and picked up her own bag from Josh's hands. She had forgotten about it in the midst of the commotion.

"Thanks"

Josh simply looked away, threw a glare to the couch that was meant to be occupied by an unlucky member.  
"I'm not sleeping there" Josh pointed out before anyone could say anything. In all honesty, Malia wouldn't mind to occupy it. But not when everyone was acting like it was a personal offence to be put there.

"Donovan is the monitor" Malia smiled "I suggest he takes it."  
There was a general humm of agreement and Donovan glared at her, but didn't say anything.

They started to unpack in silence. Malia hadn't brought much; She didn't have much to begin with, and in her hurry to be a legit B&C's field agent, she had gotten rid of her extra clothes. No more Stiles' old sweater, no more Scott's borrowed-stolen jacket. No more Theo's white shirt that somehow gotten among her stuff.

She heard Hayden and Corey whispering and then a giggle.

"What?" Malia barked, certain that they were making fun of her.

"You're almost as paranoid as those Italian jerks" Hayden mocked.

"But Malia doesn't look nearly as good as Camden in black" Corey sniggered.

"What is the use to be that handsome when he's a dick?"

Donovan looked up from his spot and Malia realized, in her despair, that he was putting pieces of a gun together.  
"You're not his type, Hayden-bear" he said.

A heavy silence fell and then Corey whistled " _yes_!"

"How'd you know that, Donati?" Hayden barked, cheeks going red by embarrassment and humiliation.

"No secrets in army, sweetheart" Donovan perked an eyebrow, making the rest of them uncomfortable. Malia threw the to-be gun one last glance and grabbed her clothes, walking to the bathroom to change and get ready for a night that already promised not to be good.

Before closing the door, she heard Josh whisper "Even if he was interested in any of you, this is a case and agents do not get involved."

Well, shit. Way to start badly, Malia thought.

* * *

She couldn't breathe. There was a shadow sitting on her chest and Malia grasped the sheets, trying to suck in the air and only getting saliva pooling on her mouth.

Theo's voice was still loud in her ears. His grey eyes burning on hers and Malia closed eyes. He was haunting her. He wasn't a nightmare, Theo was a ghost.

"Malia?" someone whispered, moving in the dark "Malia, are you ok?"

"Hayden" Malia answered, turning on the bed and curling up on herself, hands shaking and sitting up, unable to breathe through the pain "Hayden, I said… You remember, I said I wanted him dead" she whispered back.

Hayden climbed in her bed and put a hand on her arm, rubbing slow circles and letting out a heavy sigh "When I was found by Theo, he was barely a young man. Probably nineteen or something like that. I was among the hostages of night club. He wasn't working that night, but I remember him telling me _'you're gonna be ok'_ " She mimicked his stern voice and Malia curled up further.

"What happened then?" she asked breathlessly, grabbing Hayden's hand and trying to steady her hammering heartbeat.

"I was shot in the chest." Hayden let out a weak smile "I should have died. I still don't know how I didn't, but I woke up in Blink&Clean's medical bay and missing three weeks of my life."

"He saved you"

"I don't know. He never told me that. I like to think so." Hayden shrugged "But Hayden Romero died that night; Took me two years to be able to contact my sister again. She had buried a coffin under my name and she still takes flowers there."

"So he took you? Kidnapped you?"

"He… We're not heroes, Malia. We do what we're told and maybe, if you're lucky, you might save someone one day. But you'll always kill more than you'll save. We're not heroes. " Hayden pushed her aside and laid down on the bed "We might not be villains, but we _are_ this society's fuck ups."

"I'm not" Malia cut in sharply "I'm no hero, but I'm not a total fuck up yet."

"Then what are you doing here?" Hayden whispered, turning on the small bed to face her "I won't cry over his death. Theo knew it was bound to happen. We're all fated to fail one day and you have to accept that. I won't mourn someone who picked death as a profession."

* * *

"We're not going to find anything" Hayden sighed, passing the video frame by frame.

The street in which the Caltagirone's guards had been attacked was dark enough during day and even worse once the stupid men decided to meet in the middle of the night.

Seven men, standing like goddamn statures. Four of them holding guns openly, but all armed in closer inspection of the image.

"Here comes the agent" Hayden mumbled, leaning sleepily over the keyboard. Malia watched, once more, the motorcycle approach the Italian guards. The agent opened the visor of his helmet, but he didn't take it off.

"Smart" Malia sighed. She already hated the agent. There was no identification of him and the presents during the attack were all dead. However, despite the agent falling, his body had been nowhere to be found.

"The flash disk" Hayden circled a small silver object on the frame "And… First man down."

The next frame had one of the guards firing his gun by accident, already on the process of falling on his knees. Malia frowned.

"Hayden" she called "Go back a frame please"

"What are you seeing?" Hayden sat up, anxiously.

"Can you light it up?"

"Sure" softer a few mouse clicks, the picked was a grainy shade of grey and white, getting rid of the black blurry spots.

"That man over there" Malia ignored Hayden's grunt for her to stop touching the screen "He's hurt"

"Where?" Hayden frowned, inspecting the screen closer.

"Look at his hand, he was touching his arm and it goes to the leg, right when the other one is shot"

"Malia, Corey already said all the corpses have cuts on the back of their neck and four bullets on the chest"

"So you're saying no one was shot in the leg?"

"We only have six bodies and the agent is still missing"

"Where's the seventh guard?"

"Nowhere in the reports, but they don't put him as missing either" Hayden sighed "I wish we had a witness"

"How did they get the corpses back if they don't know where the agent or the guard is? If they don't know who attacked them?"

"Oh, they know…" Donovan's voice interrupted them and there was his ever present lazy mockery.

"What do you mean?"

"You were contracted to get the flash disk back, not solve a murder. But any Caltagirone or simple Italian thief knows who killed the guards"

"Cut the mysterious crap and tell us already" Hayden barked, while Donovan fell sit by their side and started to go through the frames.  
"The Argents" Don shrugged.

"The _Argents_?" Hayden and Malia echoed, confused.

He threw them a puzzled look "French family, likes to contract B&C for murders. They smuggle guns"

"They are a rival mafia?" Malia grabbed a paper and started to note it down.  
"Yeah. Everyone with half a neuron knows the attack was on their account. Angelo simply bought the corpses back, on the black market."

Malia was offended. Donovan barely had enough neurons to socially interact, but here he was acting all cocky. She wasn't going to ask him how everyone knew and why the Caltagirones fought with the Argents.

She would be damned before asking him.

* * *

"Hey! Camden!" Malia saw the man clearly wince, but he kept walking, pretending he hadn't heard her. Oh, _fuck him._ "Hey, asshole!"  
She ran towards him, only to meet a blue gaze as cold as death.

"What?"

Malia wanted to growl back, to slap him. But he wasn't The-… he was their superior. She couldn't simply go around beating up people, she was a grown woman and it was time to start behaving like one.

"Donovan mentioned the feud between Caltagirones and Argents… Why isn't it on the files? If you knew the attack was ordered by them, this was vital information."

Camden seemed surprised for a second before scoffing "You're clearly a newbie, agent. Blink&Clean has files on that matter. A few tons of them."

She _could_ contact Lucas and ask for those files, but Camden Lahey was obviously an expert on the matter and he was standing before her with an arrogant smile.

"What can _you_ tell me about them, Camden?"

He visibly pale, lips getting thin with anger. However, Malia knew the fury wasn't directed to her.  
"They are scum" he spat, something dark in his eyes "They think they are entitled to everything. Unable to share. They've been fighting us on the market of guns since I was a child. When they started losing field, they…" He stopped himself, blushing with the sudden outburst of emotion.

"What did they do?" Malia asked in a whisper, fearing the answer.

She didn't know the honor code of the mafia, but she knew when someone was stepping over the lines.

"The Argents have no morals. They took Isaac and started a war" Camden walked past her "I hope it helped, agent. Don't expect me to do your job."

Malia was left there watching him go. Bitter and furious, too much alike a demigod in his ruthless response.  
Watching Camden walk away, she realized something: He was limping.

* * *

 **n/a: Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Even Hell is Holy**

Malia hated Italy. It was that simple. She hated the cold rooms they were installed in and she hated not being able to relax for a single second.

They woke up, Hayden out of the bed for hours now because she was an insomniac and so was Donovan. Corey snoring not far from Malia and looking years younger. Then they sat their asses down and worked until Malia was seeing spots in her vision. Cuts on the neck of the dead guards, missing body, missing flash disk. No news from the Blink&Clean's lost agent. Dead, probably.

They had meals in the large room with some other employees of the mansion and Camden sitting at the end of table, legs crossed while he cleansed his guns and glared at them.

Malia swore, one minute she would get fed up of his arrogant attitude and shove that gun so far up his-

"Agent?"

She looked up from the bowl, eyes tired and head hurting.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a minute?"

She wasn't the best agent, but she was observant enough to see Donovan lingering on the doorway. Unsure if he should leave them or not. She offered him a small smile. Was he possibly worried about her safety?

Camden wouldn't hurt her. Her nerves perhaps, but not her. She was a guest and an employee at his place and the arrogant jerk wouldn't insult his father by killing her under the Caltagirone's roof.

Malia followed him outside of the dining room and past the big ball room, with luxurious fireplaces. She hadn't been to the winter garden yet. In fact, Malia was at least a shade paler, once she hadn't seen the sunlight since getting to Italy.

Camden limped to a bench and sat down, looking up to her with his big blue eyes and a sly smirk that made her want to take a step back.

"What do you want, Camden?" Malia sighed, taking her gaze from him and eyeing the flowers blossoming. White lilies and chrysanthemums; the flower selection of the Caltagirone family was as bad as their hospitality.

"I- How is the job going? Any progress?" he was shifting uncomfortably on the bench. Looking at his hands.

"Slow" Malia scoffed "Because you've been cowering and blaming us for your lack of competency"

Camden looked up, a flush crawling his cheeks and he scoffed "No, I haven't"

Malia crossed arms, took a step forward "Oh yeah? Then who's Isaac?"

Camden froze, wide eyed and looking much younger. Then he frowned, his face went livid and he stood up, ready to grab her face and smash it in a wall "None of your business, agent."

"It _is_ my business" Malia barked back, taking a step forward and glaring. He wasn't going to scare her away "You witnessed a crime and you've been lying to us since we got here. You're endangering me and my colleagues, so I'll ask just once more: Who's Isaac?"

"My brother" the words fell from his mouth, while Camden blinked in shock "How'd you know I'm a witness?"

"You're limping" Malia scoffed, moving away from him "So they killed your brother? Is that why Caltagirones and Argents have a feud?"

"They didn't kill Isaac, they _took_ him"

"… What do you mean?" Malia frowned "What are you hiding?"

He didn't answer. Malia was growing impatient, she was sure that the talk was just a waste of her time when Camden finally spoke up.

"Dad always liked him more than me." His voice was soft, barely there and Malia blinked in surprise. "I'm the heir of the Caltagirone's business, but Isaac? He was always the favorite. Can't blame dad, he would be mine too. Five years ago the Argents took him. We- we buried an empty coffin. His car was destroyed, they couldn't savage a single bone. Dad kept saying that wasn't possible, but I just thought he was in denial. Then the pictures came. Isaac, alive… looking nothing like my brother. Pictures threatening us. Telling us to stop negotiating with our clients, stop smuggling guns and drugs"

Malia was barely breathing, listening attentively.

"Of course dad didn't stop. I begged, but his head is thick as concrete. Then the punishments started" Camden's already pale face lost the rest of its color "Pictures with Isaac bleeding and beat. Dad contracted Blink&Clean. _Because Blink &Clean is amazing, Camden_. We went through three agents, Malia" he looked up, desperate "Three dead agents. None of them could track Isaac down. Then dad asked for their _best_ agent. It seemed like this time things would work out, you know? The agent had a flash disk with the information on Isaac. I insisted on going to Paris to retrieve it."

He wouldn't stop now, hands shaking uncontrollably and face white as milk. "Then the agent fell, then my guards… There was so much blood. I was tortured for three days. Came back home without the disk, traumatized, without my brother, and having wasted money on the dead agent." He sighed "Is that all?"

Malia's hands were shaking. She swallowed down the pressing feeling on her throat and tried to form a decent sentence "Camden?"

"Yes?"

"What was the name of the agent? The last one?"

"Raeken; Theodore Raeken"

And then Malia understood. Blink&Clean wasn't working with the Caltagirones, but with the Argents.

Neutralized. Theo Raeken had been sent to die. Blink&Clean had sent _her_ to die.

* * *

"Please" his throat was so dry. He felt like he had swallowed sand "Please…"

"What, baby?" her voice was sweet and docile and Kate Argent knelt by his side, pushing his hair back away from his sweaty forehead. She had a lighter in her hand.

"Can you-" he choked on saliva and blood and she opened a smile. Sadistic bitch.

"Yea?"

"Can you go to hell?" Theo rasped, opening a grin and making her go a shade paler.

"Oh, baby" she snarled, pressing their foreheads together "Haven't you heard? We're already there"

* * *

 **n/a: I'm aware I suck**


	5. Chapter 5

**Paranoia**

"We're being set up!" Malia yelled "I don't know what Blink&Clean is gaining by killing their best agents, but they're not working with the Caltagirones, they're working with the Argents! They sent Th-"

"ENOUGH!" Donovan yelled in her face, lips crisped and dark eyes burning with fury "You're under _my_ command and you'll do as I say, Malia! Enough talking about your crush over Raeken, enough with your paranoia!"

"I'm not being paranoid! I saw the name Raeken on Desert Wolf's screen, with _neutralized_ written over it! I _saw_ , Donovan!" Malia scoffed, pushing him by the chest "They sent four agents to death, including Theo! And we're next!"

"You're letting your feelings cloud your judgment, Malia" Donovan grabbed her wrist and he threw her on the couch across the room with such force that Malia felt blood ringing on her ears "Whatever happened between you and Raeken, will not interfere in our job. I _knew_ the previous three agents sent to help the Caltagirones. They weren't neutralized, they were _murdered_. Like you will be if you don't put your head in place."

"Donovan, please-"

"While you were too busy snooping in Camden's private life, we tracked down the same pattern of attacks to London and France. Some of us are doing our jobs, Malia, and if you don't start to behave like an agent, you'll get all of us killed."

"I'm trying to _save_ you!"

"Like you tried to save Theo? You wanna know what I think, Malia? I think he's dead because of _you_. I think Desert Wolf wasn't happy about what he had with you. Not the weekend away with him in the middle of nowhere, not the fights in the hallway, not how his records all dropped since you stepped in his life. And I think he was killed because of you, because you _wrecked_ him. Because you spent an entire weekend trying to convince him he could be better than an agent, that he could live the white fences life. We're agents, Malia. We don't have time for fairytale or to worry about others."

"Dono-"

"And if you don't shut the fuck up about your paranoia, I'll get you neutralized myself." He glared "We're leaving in the morning."

He slammed the door shut behind him and Malia felt all of her beliefs crumble down. He was right. She had told him, she had been convinced Theo could be so much more than an agent. Perhaps she _was_ the reason he was dead, after all.

* * *

Wide eyed, Hayden pulled her by the hand down the cold streets of Paris. Malia was freezing, despite being wrapped in a thick parka and layers underneath her leggings. She had been freezing since Donovan had put the gun on her hand, the threat very clear in his cold glare " _I'll get you neutralized myself" "You'll get the rest of us killed too"._

Malia hadn't mentioned the talk to anyone else. There was no need to worry Hayden, to make Corey unable to do his own job. No need to make Josh look at her with even more annoyance than he normally held.

Camden had come to say goodbye and Malia didn't miss how he avoided her gaze, how his eyes had dark circles underneath and the fresh, bloody, hickeys on his nape. She had frowned, but Donovan dragged them to the helicopter before she could mention it.

"Are you listening to me?" Hayden poked her.

Malia blinked and turned to look at her "Yea- just looking at Paris, you know? It's pretty"

"It's covered in grey snow" Hayden scoffed, rolling eyes "Help me, would you?"

They were tracking one of the many gun dealers of France. If the flash disk was tied directly to the Argents, the best way to find it, was finding the Argents.

"Okay, uhm- Donovan said he should be here, right?" Malia looked around the large street and felt a wave of despair overcome her. The Château Rouge avenue was long and Malia had no idea of how they were supposed to find the man on the printed paper she held between sweaty fingers.

"Yeah- okay, I'm going to call him, you take some euros out and try to bribe anyone looking like the guy."

It sounded like an awful plan, but they did eventually come across a small lady who glared at the notes Malia held and grabbed it with violence "Just take a turn around the corner, he should be in the Chinese place." She said with a thick French accent that made Malia frown to understand her.

Ennis was a chill looking guy. Bald, with big brown eyes, part of the common crowd. He wasn't sketchy, his clothes were middle class.

"He's the head of the traffic mouth here?" Hayden whispered by her side.

Malia was clutching the small gun inside her oversized coat's pocket and she shrugged "I guess. Mr-"

"Ennis" he rolled eyes and stirred his cappuccino "So, what are the pretty ladies in search for? Heroin? Ex boyfriend won't let up and you girls need some protection? I have some guns in the ba-"

"We just want information" Hayden promptly sat down and put a note between them.

"Oh-" he pocketed it "About?"

"The Argents"

"What would I know about them? They're big fish, they don't have dinner with people like me"

"You know where they are?"

"Nope" he rolled eyes.

Hayden let out a sigh and put another note between them "You know anything about the men killed with wounds on their napes?"

"I- no" his voice wavered just a little and Malia put another note on the table.

"Do you?"

"Look, there has been a spike in the murders lately, some Italian dude bought freaking _corpses_ from one of my dudes. I don't know anything else."

"What about the guns?" Malia emptied their wallet "Anything weird happened in the gun marketing?"

"Well, one of my guys sold a _machine gun_ the other day. And let me tell you, that shit isn't cheap"

"Who did you sell it for?"

"Whoa, girls, I'm an honest man, I don't out my clients just like this" Ennis scoffed "And it looks like you've ran out of bribery, so maybe you should take your pretty little asses home, this is a dangerous neighborhood and it's getting dark."

"We can take care of ourselves" Malia glared, but Hayden let out a sigh.

"Thank you" she smiled "I think we should go, Lia"

"Hayden, wh-"

Her friend pulled her up and turned for Ennis, pointing his disposable cup "You're done with this?"

"Yes, thank you, darling" he handed her the cup and winked "It was a pleasure to talk with you, girls"

Malia was fuming when they walked out of the horrible dinner "Really, Hayden? Dude fools us and you act like a maid on top of that?"

"Malia, shut up" Hayden rolled eyes, putting the dirty cup inside of a sack and then inside her purse "We got what we needed here".

* * *

"So, how are things?" Malia asked anxiously, leaning over Corey's shoulder and scanning the screen. She had only understood Hayden's action when the girl handed the cup to Corey and asked him to access Ennis face pattern through his DNA. Now the guy was being tracked by every camera in the city. Whenever he showed his face around, one of the cameras recognized his face and the team could watch this every move.

"He's selling guns, what else do you expect?" Corey rolled eyes "He's a dealer, duh"

"Corey" Malia glared and shoved him out of his seat "He's selling a _machine gun_ "

"So?"

"So, he said himself this is rare as fuck" Malia rolled eyes "Where's this happening? Right now?"

"Uh- three streets down the Champs-Élysées" Corey pouted, rubbing the sore spot in his elbow.

"HAYDEN, WE'RE LEAVING"

* * *

He was a tall man, with big blue eyes and grey-turning hair.

Malia watched as the guy pocketed the receipts and handed Ennis a paper, before walking away. He appeared to be in his late forties, early fifties. The man stopped at the floriculture. Rough voice speaking French like an American would.

Then he gutted her. Walking in a cemetery and dropping to his knees before a grave, flowers falling to the humid grass.

"I miss you so much, baby. So much" he whispered.

Malia turned around and crossed arms, stared at the grave she was faking to be observing and felt a shiver run up her spine. Weirdly, she didn't think this man was mourning his wife.

* * *

"Here" Malia dropped the photos on a table before Donovan "You recognize him?"

"Where did-"

"He was buying the machine guns. I followed him to a mansion in the northern side of Paris. Mansion du Gévaudan. I never saw so many guards on a place before." Malia sighed "You know him?"

"Yes" Donovan answered softly "Yes, of course I do. He's Chris Argent…"

Malia nodded and sat before him, scanning the leader's face. "He's got the flash disk, doesn't he? The one Theo died protecting?"

"Probably" Donovan looked up from the pictures "But we can't break into the mansion. You said yourself the place is safer than the fucking Buckingham Palace."

"I'll find a way. If- If I can get in, is there any way I can find the disk?"

"Once Theo told me you could track anything from Blink&Clean" Hayden said from the doorway. It was past midnight and she was in boy shorts and a lose tank top, looking sleepless and exhausted.

"What if I wanted to track a Flash Drive?" Malia perked up.

"I don't know, Malia… Maybe" Donovan turned to Hayden "What do you think, Hayden?"

"Yeah… If it was made using our technology, I think we could track the signature." She yawned.

"But it would be need to plugged on a computer" Donovan interrupted.

"No." Hayden shook her head and crossed the room, opening her laptop, starting to type "We could track it turned off too, but… It would be heavy technology, we would need Desert Wolf's approval to use it…"

"And?" Malia stood up from her chair, interested.

"And, I don't know, it would be extremely flawed."

"Ok. But think with me. If I get in the mansion and track this, what would happen?"

"If we get Desert Wolf's approval, you get invited in the mansion _and_ the Flash Drive was made by a Blink &Clean's technology… _If_ all this things are in your favor, we could track the disk using a low range tracker. But you would have to be close to the disk for that to work and once you triggered the device, it would alert the security of the building."

"You're telling me that once I saw the Flash Drive and used the device to recognize it, I'd set myself on fire?"

"Yes"

"Then I guess we have a plan, after all."

* * *

 **N/A: Hey, guys! New chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also, before the update forks start to point at me, next chapter is already written ;)  
Review, please :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Baby, I'm Bulletproof**

"Hold on, just a second" Malia mumbled, fixing her bra. She heard the door opening and turned around, crossing her arms over her nude chest "I said just a second! I'm still changing!"

"You don't have anything I haven't seen already" Hayden rolled her eyes and raised an elastic belt. She closed the door behind her and pushed Malia's arms away without asking "You remember the plan, right?"

"The _'I saw it in a movie'_ plan? Sure" Malia rolled her eyes while Hayden belted the elastic under her breasts and placed a small black button between her skin and the belt "What is it?"

"It's the tracker device. Don't push it, unless you're sure you've found the Flash Drive. Once you do, all the building security will go mad." She grabbed the dress over the bed and hurried Malia to dress it, while she undone the curls around her friend's face. "Ok… You look hot. Some lipstick?"

"Thanks a lot. No" Malia rolled her eyes and eyed herself in the mirror "I look weird"

"Don't you dare to say you're ugly"

"No…" Malia frowned to the figure hugging blue dress "I look pretty, just nothing like me"

"Don't feel bad about it" Hayden smiled and got on her tip toes to put something on Malia's ear. "It's a communicator. If shit hits the fan, you press the button to call us and we'll take you out, ok? Or… try to"

"Josh and Donovan will be there too"

"They will leave after their part is done, Malia. They can't be linked to you doesn't matter what" Hayden eyed her from head to toe "Don't let his hot body or asshole personality get you out of control. It's a job. Remember this and you'll be safe"

"Yes, Ma'am" Malia smiled and hugged her friend. Something shattered in her chest, cold running between her bones. The possibility of not coming back "I'm going to be fine"  
"You better" Hayden whispered, holding her tightly "I don't want to kick your ass for dying". She pulled apart and Malia sighed and fixed the communicator in her ear.

"Ok. Let's do this."

* * *

It had been far _too easy_ to have access to the Mansion du Gévaudan. Malia couldn't believe her luck, mostly because after so many unhappy accidents, she was sure that if there was any superior force, it hated her.

But it had been easy. She and Josh had sat outside the Mansion for hours observing the coming and going of its habitants. It wasn't a family living there, despite the few indicatives of a dynamic between the people on it. Malia had hid behind a starbucks coffee and tried to identify the weak link. Was it the young, almost friendly guy, or the lady with a shark smile and a loud laughter? The older man with blue eyes or the one who looked at himself on every shiny reflection?

Josh had come up with the answer first, spilling purposefully his juice on top of Malia's white top and the narcissistic guy when he passed by. Joshua had apologized profusely, but Malia was no fool. She could see the glint in his eye and most importantly, she could see the glint on the stranger's eye. Those light eyes that were glued to her now transparent shirt and wet cleavage.

After that it had been easy. Batting eyelashes. Hand on his arm, biting her lip, "Do you really live here? It's so fancy!".

"I'm Jackson" he had said, too many fingers while he held a napkin to her chest, faking to help her clean, but trying to cope a feel.

"I'm- Malia" she had answered coyly and he had opened a smile that meant he had all plans to fuck her until he forgot his own name. "I've been sitting here all day, and… soo many boxes?" she giggled "What are you doing? Throwing a party or something?"

"Or something" he had agreed, gesturing for a waiter of the small café and noting down his number "Why don't you stop by tonight. Malia…?"

"Malia Ashton" the name fell from her mouth and he smiled.

"Just say you're my date, gorgeous. Malia Ashley"

She was nothing but a pretty face, she was wasteful and forgetful. One of the many girls he had impressed with his big house. And it was perfect.

* * *

"You came" Jackson opened a shining smile and Malia bit down a groan.  
"I did" She eyed him from head to toe. Obviously he was too handsome to ignore, but the familiar trace of abhorrent arrogance made her uncomfortable. He didn't hesitate to hold her by the hand and pull her inside the Mansion. Jackson didn't need her consent, she was his dumb eye candy and he knew it.

The place was gigantic. Light and intricate walls covered in paintings and silver objects. A huge crystal chandelier in the middle of the entry; well dressed people walking with champagne glasses as accessories.

"Jackson!" a woman's voice called him and the man turned around, bringing Malia with him.

"Victoria" he opened a queasy smile, eyes glistening with poison. She was older than him by a few decades and had bright red hair. However, the absolute rigidness of her face made her look ageless  
"Could you please check if everything is set up for our special guest later? After you have your dance with this young lady, of course"

"Yes, Ma'am" Jackson shook his head and pushed her roughly away from the woman "Let's have our fun, then"

"Who's this mysterious special guest? France's king?" She blinked sweetly, leaning on him and almost chocking on his heavy perfume.

"First of all, France doesn't have a king." He rolled his eyes and pushed her to a crowded room. The place reeked alcohol and something stronger. Even with the women all trapped in long gowns and the men inside fancy tuxedos, they had found a way of making that obscener than a night club. "And second, it's none of your business"

"There was no need to be this rude" a young woman growled, not far from them. In the dark of the makeshift club room, Malia could only see her blond hair and the champagne glass in her hands. The black light reflected into her white pearl teeth and Malia could swear she had bright red marks around her wrists.

"Get lost before I make you" Jackson barked back, his hand around her arm and pulling Malia to the dance floor "Come"

If he wasn't everything she loathed, Malia might have had fun. He was warm and far too handsome and danced like pure sex. He moved slowly and his hands in her arms were well trained. However, Jackson felt wrong against her body. His expensive smell turned her head in the wrong way and the how he grabbed on her like he owned her made Malia want to punch him.

"Bathroom break" She tried to pull away from him, but Jackson shook his head and pushed her closer to him.

"Nice idea"

Before she could answer or break his nose, a loud noise was heard on the other room, followed by a female scream. Jackson pushed her away, turning around and running to the other room.  
It was the signal.

Malia turned after him and ran for the door, but before she could go to the stairs, a hand grabbed her by the arm. Malia made the starter of a fight, however a female voice against her ear cut her off. _"It's in the second room across the hallway, upstairs. Hurry"_ And then the sharp nails around her arm vanished and she was left alone in the emptying room.

People were screaming; There was a fight outside and one of the guys had a knife. No, he had a gun! I heard someone was stabbed! Is he dead?!

Malia ran up the stairs, still confused about the woman who had tipped her and got to a large hallway. The candles in the chandeliers and brackets on the walls made the light dance and she squeezed her eyes, slowing down. What if it was a trap? She was unarmed.  
Malia pressed her body against a wall and started to cross the hallway, praying she was doing the right thing trusting on the mysterious woman.

The hallways turned into a corner to the left and there were four doors. All of them locked.

Malia clicked the small communicator in her ear. "Hayden, are you listening to me?"

"Yes. Josh and Donovan are just about to leave, you have two minutes."

"Hayden, the door is locked. Tell me you know how to pick a lock" Malia pressed her eyes shut and prayed.

"I don't." a muffled noise and then Corey's voice was heard  
"Grab a hairpin in your purse."

Malia thanked whatever deity was watching over her and obeyed "Then what?"

"Open it, turn the bumpy side up and start to insert it on the lock. You gonna use the up side to see what locks are down and then the lower one to raise them"

"Ok" Malia frowned, twisting her wrist to get the right angle and felt the upper side hitting metal "I think I got it"

"Keep doing it, the lock will have four repartitions, you gonna have to pick the ones that are down up"

"Alright…" She picked the first one up and tried to do this to the second one, but couldn't "I can't, Corey, it's not working!"

"She has to leave!" Malia heard Hayden yelling in the background, however Corey's voice was steady.  
"Do you have more hairpins? Another one?"

"I don't know" Malia opened her purse and downed the content in the floor "I don't think so…" Her hands were shaking, the noise downstairs was getting worse.  
"Malia get the hell out there, Josh and Donovan are leaving!"

"No!" She saw a small object glistening on the candle light and smiled "Found another one, Corey, what do I do?"

"Take the first one from the lock, bend it on the middle and use the lasso-like part. Insert it on the quasi diagonal, on the lower part of the lock"

"Alright"

"Open the second one, until you get a ninety degree angle and insert it over the one you already have in the lock. Start doing what…"

"Malia, get out! Get out now!" Hayden yelled, muffling Corey's words "If you don't get out now, they will find you in a minute!"

"Quiet!" Malia hissed "Let Corey talk"

"…Start doing what you were doing before, but using the ninety degrees pin."

"Alright"

"When you find the one small lock that won't go up, force it gently. You will hear a click. Then do it again until you find a second one"

"I'm going over there." Malia heard Hayden saying, but she forced herself to ignore her friends arguing and focused on the lock. She heard a second click.

"Corey! Corey!" her whisper-scream was cut off by steps on the stairs "Corey, I found the second stiff lock, now what?"

"Now twist the lasso pin like a key and get the fuck out of there!"

Malia obeyed in a hurry, kicking the door open when it started to give under the badly picked lock. She felt the blood ring in her ears as the steps got louder, but entered the room and pushed the door closed gently, before resting her back against the wood and trying to catch her breath.

"Did you make it?!" Hayden was screaming in her ear "Are you ok?! Malia, answer me!"

"I made it" Malia sighed, relief washing over her "I'll talk to you in a minute."

She looked around and felt the air grab in her lungs. The room was crowded with all kind of small objects. Malia walked toward a black wood table and frowned. Over it was a collection of music and jewelry boxes. All made of silver and with small details of wolves chasing people on it. "Creepy…" Malia mumbled to herself, carefully opening one. Inside of it were a delicate knife and a small note _"Blade doused in aconite poison"_

Whoever was collecting those artifacts had a morbid taste for lethal beautiful weapons. She turned over, seeing an intricate cross bow pinned to a wall and a shining gun under a glass dome. She walked toward it, but saw the warning about the small explosives around the dome.

Something shinning caught her gaze and Malia turned her head. A Faberge egg.  
It was precious blue stone with silver details and she couldn't help but want to touch it. It was carefully placed in a cushion pillow over a trophy stand made of glass. The delicate jewel was open and inside of it, draped between velvet, she saw a silvery Flash Drive.

She had found it. Malia made a move to grab it, but noticed the explosives within the trophy stand. She ran across the room and pushed all the music and jewelry boxes on the ground, grabbing the table and pulling it near the Faberge egg.

Malia climbed on top of it and stood in her tip toes to grab the egg without touching the mines. Her hands were sweaty and the jewel almost fell twice, but she did it.  
She let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the table, inspecting the Flash Drive. It didn't have any signature that might indicate it was really the one they needed. It _had_ to be this one.

Malia grabbed the black button between the skin of her ribs and her dress and pressed it.

The pain hit her before anything else. Then the noise of the explosives going off all over the room, the ones in the trophy stand turned the table she was sitting on and the ones behind her back – around the glass dome for the gun – shoved her and the table remains against a wall.

Malia closed her fingers tightly around the egg, around the Flash Drive she had risked her life for and heard the loud beep of the button recognizing it. It was Blink&Clean technology, the one she needed.

And then everything turned black.

* * *

Her ears were ringing, she could feel something metallic in her mouth and everything was blurred. Malia felt the Faberge egg roll away from her hand and she focused on regaining control over her muscles. The ground shook with another explosion, this time further away and then someone was walking toward her.

She raised her head, blinking to make her vision stop swimming and saw Jackson kneeling down before her, grabbing the egg that was still rolling close to her hand. "…Jackson…" Malia whispered, half begged, when she saw the automatic gun in his hand. He squeezed his eyes and stood up, unlocking the gun and pointing it to her head.  
"No, stop…" Malia raised a hand, as if to defend herself, and then heard a loud shot.

She opened her eyes in shock because the pain she had been expecting didn't come and looked around. Jackson had almost fell and he was looking to the other corner of the room. He pulled the trigger of the gun twice before turning around and running away, the blue egg squeezed between his fingers, Malia turned to look over her shoulder and saw a man standing near the door with a gun in his hand.

Malia stood up, adrenaline making her body steady now, and the man walked closer to her, gun still cocked in his hand. She was unarmed and her body was screaming for her to run. He pulled the trigger again and Malia felt her entire body tense, only to hear a muffled sound and a body fell behind her.

"Theo?!"  
The moonlight streaking from the bulletproof windows was showering his face and her heart missed a beat. Standing with a gun in hand and death in the grey-blue of his eyes, Theo Raeken was her avenging angel.

Malia was hugging him tightly before she could understand what her body was doing. He was stiff at first, before relaxing and letting out a relieved sigh, wrapping his arms around her. The tears that had been trapped in her throat since he betrayed her and left Blink&Clean eight months ago filled up her eyes and she swallowed down the lump in her throat "I thought you were dead…"

"No, never…" Theo whispered, before pulling away from the hug and cupping her face. Malia closed her eyes under his touch, all the anger that she had once felt gone and his skin burning hers like an infernal shiver. She wrapped an arm around his neck and her hand went to his hair, pulling him closer, every inch of her body craving him, frenziedly desiring him.  
Their lips touched, painfully burning against each other, and Malia let out a sigh, her heart hammering in her chest. His breath was in her mouth, his taste coated her tongue and Malia wanted to drown in his scent, in his heat.

"What is it?" Malia whispered, feeling something warm and liquid against her fingers. She started to pull away, interrupting before the kiss even started, but Theo dropped the gun in the floor with a loud noise and pushed her against a wall, crashing their mouths together.

Every question left her mind. He was alive, his touch all over her and Malia closed her eyes firmly and kissed him back. The hunger took over, her hand dropped from his hair to his nape, pulling him closer, wanting Theo to be inside of her in more ways than just the sexual one. She breathed him, tasted the salt of his skin and the warmth of his neck and drowned in the kisses he was pressing in the hollow of her chest and neck.

"I thought I wouldn't ever see you again" his voice was a whisper confessed in her skin but she heard it loud, echoing in her head over and over again. She thought he was dead, neutralized and washed away from her memory, but there he stood. "I thought I would die before seeing you again…"

Malia pulled away, the reality crashing down. The warm liquid in her hands and dripping down his neck, the security screaming downstairs, the gunshots and his deadly pale face.  
"What's going on? What are you doing here?" She pushed him to the moonlight again and cursed loudly when realized her hand was covered in blood "You're hurt"

"It's nothing." Theo grabbed his gun on the ground and checked the ammo "C'mon, we gotta go before they find us"

"What are you doing here?" Malia asked, kicking lightly the man who might be dead on the ground and when he didn't respond, she grabbed his gun.

"I was working on a case, trying to get info about a missing man…"

"You're the agent Angelo contracted, I know" Malia frowned, walking past him. Theo grabbed her by the hand, his fingers wrapping around hers like he never wanted to let go, and let her lead the way.

He spied on the hallway "We can run upstairs to the roof and then climb down to the street behind this, where we can steal a car"

"No" Malia rolled her eyes "I'll call Hayden and tell her to wait for us there." She grabbed her dress and huffed "Stupid thing" mumbled under breath, before tearing it open until the middle of her tight.

"What are you doing here, Malia?" Theo asked, not sparing a look to the naked skin she was exposing and instead, making sure nobody got to them.

"I'll tell you when we leave here"

"Ok." He shot someone and Malia heard the steps.  
"How many?"

"Too much" Theo whispered, turning around and starting to run, pulling her by the hand. They crossed the door through which Jackson had vanished and entered a small office. There were big windows, and only one huge metal door across the room. No way they could open it. Theo pulled her to the window.

"It's bulletproof, Theo, don't waste our ammo"

"Bulletproof glass doesn't exist" He growled "Guard the door"

"Don't order me around, jackass" Malia bit back, but she couldn't be mad. Not when she had just discovered he was alive. She grabbed the gun and closed the door enough so she could protect herself from the shots, but still see the entry of the other chamber. The guards seemed to be in the hallways still.

"Why they aren't chasing us?"

"Kanima already warned them he has the Flash Drive safe. Chasing us would be a waste of bullet." Malia heard a loud shot behind her and turned around. Theo had glued his hand to the corner of the window and then pressed the trigger. With such a close range shot, the bullet pierced through the thick plastic-glass. She turned to the other room and saw a man entering it.

"Theo… Hurry up"

"Ok" Another two shots and the man in the other room raised his machine gun, walking toward them. Malia aimed him, letting her finger drop to the trigger.

"He has a machine gun, Raeken, hurry the fuck up" she whispered to him, taking a deep breath and pressing the trigger. She hit him in the arm and he let out a painful yelp before triggering his gun. Malia kicked the door shut, locked it and fell on the ground right when the bullet holes appeared on the door, letting the light enter their room.

"Theo?"

She heard a loud noise and realized he had climbed over the office's chair and was now kicking the feet-sized hole he had opened on the window. The plastic-glass was bending. Theo shot again, opening a bigger hole.

"C'mon, get up" He called her. Malia crawled away from the door just as another round of shots pierced through it, and jumped on the chair with him.

"Take this goddamn skirt off" Theo growled, tearing the rest of her dress away "Ok, you're small, you can pass through this hole and grab hard on the border."

"I'll fall on the street and die"

"No you won't, I'll hold you"

"You won't pass through it, you're too big" Malia squeezed her eyes and heard a loud gunshot outside the door. They were going to blow it open.

"Your weight will bend the plastic more; it'll be big enough for me." He stripped down his jacket and grabbed her by the torso. "C'mon"

The hole was small, but Malia figured the pain of the sharp glass-plastic scratching her was better than being shot. She passed the legs first and he lowered her outside, placing her hands on the edges of the window.

"Don't look down, don't look down" Malia whispered to herself, while the window-glass bent and moaned under her weight. She heard a loud noise and looked up in time to see the door being burst open. His name escaped her lips in a terror scream before she could stop it and he turned around to defend himself.

Malia watched in horror as he fought through three armed man and the window bent with her, making it easier and easier for her to fall. Her hands were sweaty on the surface; eyes glued to his pale face and the ruthless shine of his eyes while Theo snapped a neck with his bare hands and dropped the body on the ground. He kicked the chair to the door, fixing it so to block the entry for seconds and ran to the window.

Theo shocked against it with a tremor, his hands grabbing the hole's edges and Malia let out a small squeal of terror when his shock almost made her fall. "I got you" Theo mumbled, turning around with struggle and getting outside. His weigh made the window bend violently.

"We're gonna fall"

"Better than being shot" Theo smiled, his face red with the struggle and adrenalin "You gonna have to jump over there"

"No" Malia turned her head to see the windowsill of another room. "No way"

"You jump there and you'll have support for your feet, so you don't fall. Then we go to the roof." Theo cursed when the door on the room they had been on burst open again "GO NOW!"

She used the force of her arms to impulse herself and jumped without thinking twice. Malia was falling. She tried to grab on something, anything, and then felt the cold stone against her fingers. It tried to slip away, but Malia grabbed it tightly with her nails and used her arms to raise her body. She had clutched where her feet were supposed to rest.

"Theo, come!" Malia yelled, looking up to see the details of the gutter. Malia jumped, holding for her dear life on the metal and used to it to help her get to the roof. She dropped her body against the roof tiles and took a deep breath.

She heard him jump and stood up in a hurry to look down at him. Theo was grabbing on the gutter with one hand, the other one too busy shooting the man whose hand and head was appearing through the window's hole.

"Give me your hand" Malia held him by the arm, her nails digging on his skin, and tried to pull him up. Theo dropped his gun and grabbed on the gutter with his now free hand, helping her.

His body fell over hers, crushing some tiles underneath Malia, but all she could do was let out a relived sigh and try to stead her breath. "We made it" she whispered, while Theo tried to untangle himself from her "We made it"

"Not yet" Theo stood up and helped her. Malia noticed how he almost lost balance. His face was whiter now.

"Let me see it" She grabbed him by the shirt and circled him.

"We don't have time, Malia"

"Shut up" Her eyes widened in terror. He had a big cut coming from the back of his ear to the beginning of his nape. Blood was soaking his shirt. "Fuck, Theo" Malia whispered, clicking the communicator in her ear and praying it still worked after the explosion.

"Malia!" Hayden's voice was loud and a tab bit hysteric. Theo grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her across the roof.

"Hayden, I'm with Theo on the roof of the Mansion"

"Theo?! Malia, he is dead"

"Not the time to argue, Hayden!" She gasped when Theo jumped a chimney and almost pulled her arm off her body "Get the car to the street behind the mansion, _now._ And get Corey, Theo is hurt"

"What about you, are you hurt?!"

"Not yet" Malia pressed the button turning off the call. The end of the roof was only a few meters away and Theo stopped.  
"We're going to jump" He turned for her.

"Are you trying to get us killed?"

Theo opened a small smile "Can you see the gutter pipes over there? On the house?"

"Yes"

"We're going to jump on it and then climb to the ground"

"You're a fucking lunatic" Malia growled, taking her heels off and throwing them away. She took a step back and ran, jumping off of the roof. Her body hit the pipe with a nauseating crack and Malia knew she had probably dislocated or broken something. Her mouth filled up with blood from the shock and she spat it out on the ground, wrapping her legs around the duct and climbing it down.

Theo fell on the ground before her, when his legs gave in meters away from the floor. Malia jumped to his side and noticed there was a dark humid spot on his already black pants.  
He was gasping for breath on the floor when she helped him up with her good hand.

"You've been shot"

"I'll survive" Theo rolled his eyes and rested his back against the house wall, like he wanted to blend on the shadows. "Tell me what you're doing here" his voice was breathless and Malia dragged him to a small dark alley between the houses.

"I was contracted with a team to get the Flash Drive you made."

"Angelo?"

"Yes" Malia put her hands on her knee and panted from the pain in her shoulder "He's crazy about his son"

"He could have just sent a mission after me, you know? To save me." his voice was bitter and Malia felt a hand on her shoulder and then everything turned blinding white. She bit down a scream from pain and opened her eyes, realizing he had put her shoulder back on place.

"We thought you were dead. Everyone did"

Theo grimaced "Not dead. Just knocked out and prisoner on this stupid mansion"

"Prisoner?" Malia frowned "How are you here, Theo?"

"Kate kept me alive. After I dropped her last job she was… Pissed, to say the least. She didn't get what she wanted and blamed me… I guess she thought a quick death was too easy for me."

"Kate? Who's Kate?"

"Kate _Argent_. The one that contracted me to do the… The case against your family." He closed his eyes and wet his lips.  
Her heart skipped a beat.

"You're lying" She accused, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving him against the wall "The Hale case was finished."

"Not by me" Theo answered with a shallow voice. He took a deep breath "I dropped it the second you found out"

" _Why_?" She didn't want to think about it, to feel the betrayal and the anger again. Malia didn't want to hate him when she had just got him back.

"I couldn't finish it, ok? I thought I could… I thought it would be easy like that: Feelings have nothing to do with business after all. But I couldn't finish it."

"You want me to believe on you?" Malia growled, pressing him more on the wall "You want me to _trust_ you?"

"No" Theo whimpered in pain "You asked me how I got to this mansion and I'm answering. If you're going to believe it or not, it's not my problem"

" _Fine_ " bitterness coated her tongue. He had saved her life endless times just that night, she wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe on him with the same intensity that her body craved for him. However, logic wouldn't let her. Theo Raeken was a liar. He would put his job before her any hour and Malia knew it. "So you were captured and kept alive because Kate Argent hates you…"

"They were keeping me locked under the mansion. She was…" He grimaced from pain and Malia felt when his legs buckled. She helped him sit down and cursed when felt the heat of his skin. He was burning up. "She tortured me to work for her, to get whatever it was on the Hale Vault."

"The Hale Vault was already stolen" Malia cut him off, grabbing a piece of her already trashed dress and pressing it to the cut in head.

"Whoever made the job didn't… - Didn't steal the right thing." Theo closed his eyes and took a deep breath "And then tonight, I guess they were going to end me. The party… It's been weeks they don't torture me…"

"And then what?" He was losing consciousness "Then what, Theo?!"

"Then you came" His body dropped to the side and Malia forced him to sit up.

"Don't pass out, Theo, only a few more minutes and Hayden will be here" She guaranteed, but her voice was breaking in panic "Tell me more… keep talking, Theo!"

But he didn't answer. Malia wrapped an arm around his chest and clicked the communicator hidden in her ear.  
"Hayden! Hayden, are you here already?! Hayden!"

"Getting on the street in this exact moment" The conversation ended and Malia dropped him, running out of the alley and waving her arms. The car turning the corner stopped and Hayden jumped out.

"Malia, what's going on?!"

"Get Corey, Theo is knocked out and hurt!"

Corey was almost carried out of the car, Hayden's hand on his arm strong and firm. He dropped to his knees by Theo' side and grabbed his cell phone, turning on the lantern. Corey forced Theo's eyes open and cursed "Uneven pupils. Concussion." He passed an arm around Theo's chest "Help me get him to the car"

"C'mon, Theo, you can't die now…" Malia heard Hayden whispering. The younger girl turned for her "Enter the car, Malia"

She obeyed and Theo's head was placed on her lap. Corey went to the passenger side, while Hayden started the car.

"He's burning up" the man whispered "Help me strip him"

"What?"

"STRIP HIS CLOTHES OFF!" Corey growled "We have to cool him before he has more brain damage"

" _More_ brain damage?" She asked, her hands shaking while she helped him take Theo' shirt off. His chest was covered in scars that she knew hadn't been there eight months ago.

"He opened his skull, Malia. He is screwed" Corey tried to take the pants off, but Theo started to shake.  
"Corey! Corey, what the hell is going on?!" Malia yelled, grabbing Theo by the shoulders while he twisted and shook in her arms.

"He's seizing, help me turn him on his side"

"Should we put something on his mouth so he doesn't bite his tongue off?" Hayden asked, making a violent turn.

"Shut the fuck up, Hayden, or God help me" Corey rolled his eyes to her question "Just drive"

"Yes, sir" Hayden spat back, stepping harder on the gas pedal.

"Corey?" Malia called, when Theo' seizure started to calm down.

"What?" Corey had taken his pants off and was making sure Theo's head was still.

"Save him."


End file.
